Video Games - Legendary Edition

[Fez]

I'm happy to buy Mass Effect again because right now the only way I could replay the series would be to fire up my 360, which I haven't turned on in 7 years. The games are already on PC of course, I just haven't gotten around to buying them yet. I figured I'd wait for a remaster like this. And from what I've heard, ME1 has been significantly reworked, I'm not interested in seeing that. However, I'm not so desperate to replay the games that I'll pay $60 for them. Two steam sales from now when it's $30, sure I'll buy it then. 

Meanwhile, I'm still having a lot of fun in Expeditions: Viking. I seem to be on the verge of creating the Great Heathen Army about 70 years before it existed in history and smashing Northumbia and the Pict kingdoms. It's a good time. As I've gone on, a lot of the party RPG elements have fallen away though, which is a shame. In Act 1, party members were an important part of the story; whereas so far in Act 2 other than a randomly chiming in from time to time they're basically non-existent. I'm guessing there wasn't enough writing budget, this is still a very small studio game. But I'm hoping Expeditions: Rome, which has that THQ money behind it, has a lot more of that when it comes out later this year.

Inspired by the Vikings, I've also launched a new Crusader Kings 3 game. I got bored of my Frisia game in the mid-11th century. The world had stagnated into a rather boring situation, and there wasn't much for me to do besides expand. So I created a custom Viking ruler. I made her the Count of Kerch in the Byzantine Empire, and made up the backstory that she was a sort of pro-Varangian guard and given this county as a reward for services rendered. For funsies I decided to make her really strong, not to Gigaknight levels, but more than enough to break Ironman (though I set the rule for myself that I play as if it were Ironman). And see how well I do as a Norse Asatru in Crimeria. 

It didn't quite go as planned. I did a ton of raiding, taking advantage of those longships, to quickly build up my province and get some Huscarls. And I then I went to take Crete, which is an amazing 2-county duchy and 1-duchy kingdom all in one. Take it and confederate partition stops being a threat. Unfortunately I was only able to take 1 county, another Byzantine vassal took the other and was way too powerful for me to attack. So I looked and found a 1-county island duchy off the coast of Yemen. Unfortunately it was out of my diplomatic range. So as a stepping stone I conquered an independent county near modern Dubai, and then took the island duchy. I'm thinking I might keep going east and get into India, which I've ignored in all my previous games. Unfortunately India itself is outside my diplomatic range, and right now the whole Iranian coast is too strong for me to attack. So I might conquer around the Horn of Africa for a while.

Separately, I've also fallen into my first idle game since Cookie Clicker years ago, Kittens Game. I haven't play much yet, but what I have seen so far suggests that it's absurdly deep. And also that there are legitimate strategic choices in terms of figuring out what to do. Plus, no microtransactions as best I can tell, which is a huge point in its favor.

[briantw]

2 hours ago, GallowKnight said:

Yeah I don't don't really feel any hype either for exactly the same reasons.

Hard to get super hyped to replay when I know the whole journey is a really cinematic dive into a giant pile of shit ending. 

It's the same reason I've never re-watched Lost. 

[Werthead]

This story reduces Cities: Skylines to an existential Waiting for Godot kind of experiment.

6 hours ago, Jon AS said:

The only reason I could see to get (moderately) excited about it if they had reworked the game mechanics of 1+2 to be in line with 3 (well, ideally more in line with Andromeda, but that was done on an entirely different engine). But the only things I've seen mentioned are upscaled visuals (not a selling point in itself, plus there's mods for that already) and an optional change to the Mako physics which, again, is not a selling point.

They've certainly reworked ME1's combat and RP progression to be much more in line with 2 and 3, and they fixed the Mako so it doesn't appear to be driven by an overexcited chihuahua any more.

Quote

Hard to get super hyped to replay when I know the whole journey is a really cinematic dive into a giant pile of shit ending. 

It's the same reason I've never re-watched Lost. 

On a rewatch (and knowing to completely ignore the flash-sideways stuff in Season 6) Lost's ending I would argue is nowhere near as disappointing as Mass Effect's, and I think especially in a video game, the process of playing it is where the fun is. The ending to a video game I don't think is as crucial to the enjoyment of the game overall as the ending to a TV show or novel.

The entire Mass Effect trilogy takes roughly 65 hours to play and maybe the last 15-20 minutes are kind of problematic (and there's enough fanwank out there to overcome some of the logic problems). Plus the re-release includes the reworked ending DLC (which does make things slightly better) and Citadel, which gives you a better farewell to most of the characters.

[Corvinus85]

ME3 is good up until the very end. I've replayed it a few times. But I've played the trilogy enough times to not feel a need to get back to it. Nostalgia may drive me back when we finally get details about the next game, so I will consider getting this legendary edition only then.

[Jon AS]

23 minutes ago, Werthead said:

They've certainly reworked ME1's combat and RP progression to be much more in line with 2 and 3, and they fixed the Mako so it doesn't appear to be driven by an overexcited chihuahua any more.

Interesting, I thought early screenshots of the remastered ME1 looked very much like the original. I guess I'll check out the gameplay and then possibly pick it up when it's on sale, then.

And I'm a long standing Make defender. IMO the issue wasn't really the vehicle controls, it was mostly the map design. And that bug that occasionally just made it roll all over the landscape or float in the air with no way to make it stop.

[Fez]

9 minutes ago, Jon AS said:

And I'm a long standing Make defender. IMO the issue wasn't really the vehicle controls, it was mostly the map design. And that bug that occasionally just made it roll all over the landscape or float in the air with no way to make it stop.

Apparently there is an option to still use the old Mako controls, so you'll be able to do a side-by-side comparison if you want.

[briantw]

2 hours ago, Werthead said:

On a rewatch (and knowing to completely ignore the flash-sideways stuff in Season 6) Lost's ending I would argue is nowhere near as disappointing as Mass Effect's, and I think especially in a video game, the process of playing it is where the fun is. The ending to a video game I don't think is as crucial to the enjoyment of the game overall as the ending to a TV show or novel.

The entire Mass Effect trilogy takes roughly 65 hours to play and maybe the last 15-20 minutes are kind of problematic (and there's enough fanwank out there to overcome some of the logic problems). Plus the re-release includes the reworked ending DLC (which does make things slightly better) and Citadel, which gives you a better farewell to most of the characters.

My issue is that Mass Effect was sold as a series where all of your opinions shaped the narrative.  Then you get to the end and pretty much nothing you did mattered in the slightest.  Granted, I haven't played the reworked ending, but I can't imagine it fixes the core flaw with the game...that they ran out of time and EA told them to get the fucking game out the door and they weren't able to put in a proper ending that did what they promised it would do.

[Werthead]

2 minutes ago, briantw said:

My issue is that Mass Effect was sold as a series where all of your opinions shaped the narrative.  Then you get to the end and pretty much nothing you did mattered in the slightest.  Granted, I haven't played the reworked ending, but I can't imagine it fixes the core flaw with the game...that they ran out of time and EA told them to get the fucking game out the door and they weren't able to put in a proper ending that did what they promised it would do.

That's a take I've never understood.

Your decisions do have massive impacts throughout the game. Dozens of characters, including half of the potential party characters throughout the game live or die based on your decision. Entire civilisations live and die based on your decisions. Your decisions mean whether you end the game in command of a glorious fleet consisting of all the races of the galaxy united by your decisions or a ragtag bunch of no-hopers with millions left dead in your wake.

Boiling the entire thing down to just the closing moments of the entire trilogy is overly reductive. The journey is as much the experience as the ending.

As for why things went south, they took Drew Karphyshyn off the third game and changed everything so the setup from ME1 and 2 no longer made sense, and then the executive producers locked themselves in a room and did the ending just by themselves without the massive amounts of feedback and iteration that every other decision in the game entailed.

[Werthead]

Wow. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is getting its first-ever PC port TWENTY YEARS after it originally came out.

[RumHam]

I played a lot of zombies ate my neighbors as a kid.

[RumHam]

I finished the new Resident Evil. Really great entry in the series. A good sequel to 7 and also sort of almost a loose remake of 4, setting wise. Also if 7 put you off by being absolutely terrifying this one is generally less scary. It does have one section where I had to take a break and remind myself it was just a game.

[Derfel Cadarn]

28 minutes ago, RumHam said:

I finished the new Resident Evil. Really great entry in the series. A good sequel to 7 and also sort of almost a loose remake of 4, setting wise. Also if 7 put you off by being absolutely terrifying this one is generally less scary. It does have one section where I had to take a break and remind myself it was just a game.

Keep meaning to play 7 on my PS4 VR

[RumHam]

Just now, Derfel Cadarn said:

Keep meaning to play 7 on my PS4 VR

Have you played it before? I think I might actually shit my pants if my first time through that game was in VR.

[Derfel Cadarn]

3 hours ago, RumHam said:

Have you played it before? I think I might actually shit my pants if my first time through that game was in VR.

Played a bit pre-VR. Which is why I’ve not exactly rushed to play it with VR. 

[Werthead]

Weirdly, the developers of excellent turn-based strategy game Hard West and so-so turn-based strategy game Phantom Doctrine have been drafted to create a real-time game based on StarGate.

Given that StarGate: XCOM Edition would be very successful, I have no idea why they've done that.

[Poobah]

3 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Weirdly, the developers of excellent turn-based strategy game Hard West and so-so turn-based strategy game Phantom Doctrine have been drafted to create a real-time game based on StarGate.

Given that StarGate: XCOM Edition would be very successful, I have no idea why they've done that.

Seems very odd indeed. The very format of Stargate would seem to lend itself perfectly to squad tactics, surely?

[Toth]

Okay, it seems I've made my mind up about what I'm going to do in my X4 playthrough_

- Step 1: Continuing to explore the galaxy with my Elite and discover all factions' home sectors

- Step 2: While I'm doing that, buy mining ships and traders at every wharf to keep increasing my passive income

- Step 3: Start to scan stations and unlock blueprints so that I can fool around with my own stations.

- Step 4: Do the Hub plot

- Step 5: Wipe out the Argon Federation. I remember what these designated good guys did to the Torus Aeternal. Fuck them!

So far I did two missions for the Paranids that brought me to a neutral standing with them. I used that to buy a mining ship at their home sector before continuing my journey. I found a pirate sector with an orbital accelerator that launched me into a an asteroid field (and a couple of asteroids...), but that odd side adventure luckily also ended up with me finding an abandoned Argon Courier drifting in the middle of nowhere. A small transport, neat! I went back and bought two crewmen for my Elite and went back, sending one to board and claim the Courier. Not quite sure what to do with it outside of equipping it as a trader, but it's a little small for that to be effective.

I then went onwards and discovered some Teladi sectors, but not their homeworld as of yet.

[Corvinus85]

1 hour ago, Werthead said:

Weirdly, the developers of excellent turn-based strategy game Hard West and so-so turn-based strategy game Phantom Doctrine have been drafted to create a real-time game based on StarGate.

Given that StarGate: XCOM Edition would be very successful, I have no idea why they've done that.

Just saw the news, too. I'm not really sure what kind of RTS it will really be. I agree that the XCOM style would be the best fit, but considering the time period, they could also potentially have space battles. Since these guys are also behind BSG: Deadlock, I could see a gameplay in that style.

[Werthead]

12 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

Just saw the news, too. I'm not really sure what kind of RTS it will really be. I agree that the XCOM style would be the best fit, but considering the time period, they could also potentially have space battles. Since these guys are also behind BSG: Deadlock, I could see a gameplay in that style.

It's only the same publisher. Completely different dev team.

[IlyaP]

On 5/10/2021 at 10:28 PM, Poobah said:

Am I alone in being completely unhyped to buy a re-release of a game series I already own and have played through completely several times? I genuinely don't get it at all. I love (fem)Shep and the crew but I can already play through their stories any time I want.

I need to know how this game is any better than a slightly modded version of ME. 

If anyone has the willingness/ability to show me, I'm all ears (I simply don't have time in my schedule at the moment to do any research on the topic).